“Well, the Senate was never a perfect place. But it was a better place.”
— Sen. Pat Leahy (D-VT), quoted by the Washington Post.
“Well, the Senate was never a perfect place. But it was a better place.”
— Sen. Pat Leahy (D-VT), quoted by the Washington Post.
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) condemned “revenge politics” as Republicans resist his efforts to speed up the permitting process for energy projects, The Hill reports.
Said Manchin: “I’m hearing that the Republican leadership is upset and they’re saying ‘we’re not going to give a victory to Joe Manchin’ — Joe Manchin’s not looking for a victory. We’ve got a good piece of legislation that’s extremely balanced and I think it’ll prove itself in time. The bottom line is, how much suffering and how much pain do you want to inflict on the American people for the time.”
“Senate Republicans say Joe Manchin can’t count on them to save his energy permitting deal with Democratic leaders, potentially upending efforts to attach the centrist’s proposal to a must-pass government funding bill,” Politico reports.
“With progressives already balking, several Republicans said Monday night that they might not provide the votes needed to break a filibuster of permitting reform, a key cog of this summer’s Democratic climate, health care and tax deal. Though easing construction of energy projects is a longstanding core GOP goal, the party’s senators said they were under no obligation to cough up perhaps a dozen or more votes that Democrats need to get Manchin’s vision done.”
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Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) was heckled on a plane.
“I know everything about my caucus. I care about them. I love them.”
— Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), quoted by the New Republic.
A federal judge ruled the U.S. Senate “does not have to release its full report detailing the Central Intelligence Agency’s interrogation and detention program following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
“Two of the highest-profile Republicans in the Senate are publicly defying Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on high-stakes issues vital to the GOP’s chances of retaking the majority next year,” Axios reports.
“GOP senators and party strategists declined to blame McConnell for the antics of Sens. Rick Scott (R-FL) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC). They see the ‘freelancing’ — as one source close to the leader described it — as a sign of the Senate as an institution breaking down under modern incentive structures.”
“Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), the lead Democratic sponsor of a bill that would codify same-sex marriage that faces a key procedural vote as soon as next week, said Wednesday she’s concerned midterm politics are complicating her ability to reach a deal on the legislation,” CNN reports.
Politico: “There isn’t much more time left before the election, though, with no guarantee a post-midterms vote would succeed. And most Senate Republicans don’t sound like they’re feeling political pressure to support legislation whose goals are broadly popular with the public. Republican leaders are not whipping against the bill, even as they remain somewhat dour on its prospects.”
Walter Shapiro: “It’s a beguiling fantasy: Mitch McConnell lies bolt awake at 3 o’clock in the morning staring disconsolately at the ceiling. If you listen closely, you can hear him mutter, ‘Merrick Garland. Damn Merrick Garland. I should have confirmed Merrick Garland.'”
“It’s hard to imagine McConnell has much self-awareness beneath his carapace of complete cynicism. The Senate minority leader obviously blames Donald Trump for the loss of two Georgia Senate seats and a majority in January 2021. But in the deep dark night of the soul, McConnell should point to his own folly as the GOP’s chances of retaking the Senate in 2022 dwindle to 29 percent, according to FiveThirtyEight.”
CNN: “As he vowed to support the sweeping health care and energy bill this summer, Manchin won assurances from top Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, to advance a plan that would expedite the permitting and environmental review process for energy projects – including a major pipeline that would cross through his state of West Virginia. Schumer has vowed to include the White House-backed deal in legislation to keep government agencies afloat beyond September 30.”
“But an unlikely alliance is forming between progressives alarmed at the deal’s potential environmental impact and Senate Republicans still livid that Manchin cast the vote that ensured the health care and energy bill’s enactment into law. Now the GOP is in no mood to give Manchin a win he would undoubtedly tout ahead of a difficult 2024 reelection bid, as they criticize the proposed deal as too meager.”
“President Biden’s nominee to serve as the first Black woman judge on the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals failed to win confirmation in the Senate Tuesday after two Democratic senators missed the vote: Sens. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL),” The Hill reports.
“The failed confirmation vote could delay the start of the debate on the Respect for Marriage Act, which was expected to begin at the end of this week, if Schumer decides to bring Freeman back to the floor quickly.”
Politico: “The South Carolina senator chose a uniquely tense moment to unveil his party’s first bill limiting abortion access since this summer’s watershed reversal of Roe v. Wade. It was designed as a nod to anti-abortion activists who have never felt more emboldened. Yet Graham’s bill also attempted to skate past a Republican Party that’s divided over whether Congress should even be legislating on abortion after the Supreme Court struck down a nationwide right to terminate pregnancies.”
“And some fellow Republicans said they were highly perplexed at Graham’s decision to inject a new abortion ban — more conservative than his previous proposals — into the nation’s political bloodstream at a precarious moment for the party.”
Said Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX): “That wasn’t a conference decision. It was an individual senator’s decision.”
Tara Palmeri: “Rick Scott came to Washington with a twinkle in his eye after a very successful run in the private sector and the Tallahassee governor’s mansion. He thought he could apply his maverick ways to running the N.R.S.C., only to learn that there’s only one way to do things in the Senate—and that’s McConnell’s way.”
“After nearly two years of watching Joe Manchin tank some of their biggest priorities, House progressives finally have sway over one of his. And they have every intention of using it,” Politico reports.
“Dozens of House Democrats are now threatening Manchin’s proposal to streamline energy project permits — even if it breaks a commitment that paved the way for the party’s massive climate, tax and health care victory earlier this summer. Now that President Joe Biden has signed that legislation into law, House liberals insist they have the numbers to at least force a negotiation on a Manchin side deal they see as too fossil fuel-friendly.”
Politico: “As polls show his reelection race getting tighter, Marco Rubio is treading carefully when it comes to the investigation into Trump’s handling of classified documents.”
“That’s because, while the former president remains popular among Florida GOP voters, Rubio is also the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee — a historically bipartisan panel with jurisdiction over the potential national security risks stemming from Trump’s possession of top-secret documents.”
Jonathan Bernstein: “The process of confirming judges and executive branch officials has been dysfunctional for some time, and it’s getting worse. Republicans are largely to blame for a situation that has left hundreds of senior government roles vacant. But Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and the Democrats have failed to do what they can to make things better.”
“By the end of this week, Joe Biden will have been president for 600 days. During that time, the Senate has confirmed 442 of his nominees for key jobs in the top echelons of government and 78 federal judges, or well under one per day. The problem? There are an additional 140 executive branch nominations and 62 judicial nominations either before the Senate or on their way there. That’s 202 pending nominations, and there are only about 120 days remaining until the 118th Congress is sworn in on Jan. 3.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) blasted the side deal that Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) struck earlier this summer to pass a controversial proposal to make it easier to develop fossil fuel-based energy projects, The Hill reports.
A new CBS News poll finds overwhelming support for a maximum age limit for elected officials, 73% to 27%.
“So what should that age be? When offered a list of ages, Age 70 is the top answer chosen. This is older than the current average age of members of Congress, but about a third of current U.S. senators are 70 years of age or older.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
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